Tomorrow Never Comes
by Ms. Perception
Summary: After an encounter with the county fair's gypsy fortuneteller, Rachel is forced to repeat the day until she fixes her greatest mistake. Too bad she has no idea what that mistake is or what it has to do with Puck.


**Summary:** After an encounter with the county fair's gypsy fortuneteller, Rachel is forced to repeat the day until she fixes her greatest mistake. Too bad she has no idea what that mistake is or what it has to do with Puck.

**Pairings:** Fuinn, Finnchel, Klaine, Puckleberry, hints of Samtana Puck/Sam friendships

**Warnings:** No real spoilers involved in this story. Be warned, this fic does deal with violence in schools. There is a fair amount of bad language and violence. Also a major character dies in this story. A lot. For all those _Supernatural_ fans, this a lot like the _Mystery Spot_ episode.

**Disclaimer:** I in no way shape or form own Glee despite my continued efforts. I borrowed the overall theme of this story from Supernatural. So if it seems familiar... that's because it is. I also don't own Taylor Swift's _You Belong With Me_ or Maroon 5's _Never Gonna Leave This Bed_.

**Author's Note:** This story is a little bit different for me and I'm a little out of my comfort zone with it. I've been writing this story for awhile and I'm finally satisfied with it. I hope that you all enjoy. Please let me know if it's too long. It's about 20 pages in Word. I couldn't really think of a place to break it into two chapters but if it's too much to read like this, I'll find a way. Okay, that's enough of me. Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Day Zero<strong>

There were certain things that Rachel Berry just did not believe in. Failure being the most important but as far as she was concerned magic and gypsy curses was right up there in the top ten. She prided herself on having an open mind, having two fathers would do that for you. But she still couldn't get behind the idea of magic being real. She also couldn't believe that someone could actually see the future. Still she let Mercedes, Kurt and Blaine drag her to a fortune teller's tent at the local fair one afternoon. She sat back as her three friends asked question after question that the so called gypsy correctly guessed based off body language and their reactions. Rachel smiled faintly at their obvious joy but remained standing against the wall waiting for them to finally be done.

"So we have a non believer in our midst," the woman's voice reached her ears. Rachel looked up from the text frenzy she was engaged in with Puck to see the fortune teller's black eyes staring back at her. "Come dear and tell Elena what it is you want to know."

"I'm fine, thank you," Rachel declined, politely.

Elena cocked her head to the side. "So there is nothing you wish to know?"

"Nothing you can answer," Rachel muttered.

"Try me. Free of charge," Elena smiled.

"Come on, Rach," Kurt wheedled. "It's fun. And she's been pretty accurate so far."

"There has to be something you want to know," Blaine added.

"Maybe about a boy?" Elena suggested.

Rachel sighed. There was no way any of them were going to drop this, she could already tell. It was most likely in her best interest to just give in and sit through the prediction. So with another long suffering sigh, she sat down in Mercedes' vacated seat and held her palm out for the woman. Elena took her hand gently and began tracing the lined patterns of her palm.

"I see bright lights in your future," the woman murmured, still staring intently at Rachel's hand. "You wish to be famous, no?"

Rachel narrowed her eyes. "You're the psychic. You tell me."

Elena smirked but continued. "You dream of leaving here and being a star. And you will."

"Tell me something I don't already know."

"Rachel!" Kurt hissed in annoyance. "At least pretend to be civil."

"It is okay," Elena assured him. "She is skeptic. That is to be expected with one who needs to see to believe. So you want to know something you don't already know. How about your love life?"

Rachel shifted in her seat, trying to continue being disinterested. While she didn't believe this woman had any real psychic abilities, she couldn't help but be interested in what she would say about her future love life. More importantly about when Finn was finally going to get his act together and take her back. So she asked and the response just proved, to Rachel at least, that Elena was a fraud.

"There is no future for you and this Finn. He is tied to this town. You are boundless."

"That's impossible," Rachel huffed. "Check again!"

"No need," Elena shrugged, releasing her hand. "This is no future for Finn. But I did not finish. You already know love."

"I know! His name is Finn."

Elena shook her head. "No, it is not Finn. It is someone else. I cannot see his name but he is there. There is great love for you with him."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "I knew this was a waste of time. Clearly this woman doesn't know anything if she can't see that Finn and I were meant to be."

"Maybe it's a sign that it's over," Blaine suggested, earning a dark glare. He moved slightly behind Mercedes. "Or maybe we could keep beating a dead horse."

"I'm sorry but I just cannot accept that Finn and I are over," Rachel said, calmly. "Not the way we ended. We were meant for more than that. After everything we went through to be with each other, it wasn't supposed to end that way."

"With him dumping you because you told the truth about kissing Puck while you were mad at him for lying about sleeping with Santana?" Mercedes asked, innocently. Rachel was going to invest in better friends.

"Those that do not learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them," Elena warned. "You are so fixated on this Finn that you do not see what is right in front of you."

Rachel narrowed her eyes. "Well, thank you for that. Also thank you, friends. This has been a lovely evening but I'm feeling tired. I'll see you tomorrow at school. Kurt, I still expect a ride in the morning and there better be a low-fat soy latte in there too!"

She stormed out of the tent, ignoring the calls from her friends behind her. She wasn't sure what she was so angry about. Kurt and Mercedes had always been less than supportive of her efforts to reconcile with Finn. They seemed to think she was better off without him. But what they didn't realize was that she was alone without him. He was the only boy that ever said he loved her. So it had to be Finn.

As she readied herself for bed that night, she resolved to step up her efforts in getting Finn back. She would prove her friends and that stupid gypsy wrong. She would get Finn back, they would move to New York and live their happily ever after. Tomorrow was the start of a brand new chapter in her life. She was going to get what she deserved, gypsies and stupid best friends be damned.

* * *

><p><strong>Day One<strong>

_If you could see that I'm the one who understands you_

_Been here all along _

_So why can't you see?_

_You belong with me_

_You belong with me_

Rachel woke with a smile on her face. While she wasn't normally a Taylor Swift fan, she was forced to admit that the lyrics fit her current situation. She was practically skipping as she went along with her normal morning routine. Not even the text she received from Kurt telling her that he couldn't pick her up as planned was enough to rain on her parade. Elena's prophecy was good for something. She was determined to get Finn back. Things were going to change for the better. She just knew it.

She walked through the doors with her mood only slightly diminished by the annoying bus ride to school. She walked past the unfortunate underclassman that was being slushied by Karofsky and Azimo and headed straight to Finn. Her future not ex boyfriend was leaning against his lockers with his eyes trained on something opposite from him.

"Good morning, Finn," she beamed in his direction.

He glanced down and gave her a distracted smile. "Hey, Rach."

Rachel followed his gaze to find Sam standing at his locker, listening to Puck's apparently amusing conversation. Rachel noticed that the pair had been pretty much attached at the hip since the new school year began only weeks before and it seemed to be having a good effect on both of them. Sam was a lot more open with the rest of the glee kids lately and seemed to be less stressed as he had a permanent babysitting companion in Puck. Their younger siblings seemed to be getting along just as well. As for Puck, he was actually going to classes regularly and seemed to be pulling his grades up. Rachel thought their friendship was a good thing. It seemed that she was in the minority on that one as Finn continued to glare at them.

"Is everything alright, Finn?" Rachel asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You seem a little preoccupied this morning."

He tore his eyes away from whatever was troubling him about Sam and Puck to finally meet Rachel's waiting gaze. "Since when did those two get so close?"

Rachel's brow furrowed. "Sam and Noah have been friends since Santana broke up with Sam. That was at the end of last school year. Everyone knows that. I thought you did too. You are still Noah's best friend, aren't you?"

Finn snorted. "I thought I was but clearly I was wrong. It seems like Puck doesn't need a best friend. He's got Sam."

Rachel felt slightly hurt that he was more concerned with being jealous about Puck and Sam than he was with actually talking to her. But she was determined that she was going to fix this thing between her and Finn. And that meant she was going to show interest in the things that interested him. So she was that more determined to fix the relationship between Finn and Puck.

"Have you tried speaking with Noah?"

His response was cut off by the unexpected sounds of screaming. There were a series of loud pops that led to more screaming. Rachel whirled around and found herself staring in the blue ice covered face of Karofsky and Azimo's morning victim. But it wasn't his face that Rachel's eyes were drawn to. It was the gun in his hand. The smoking gun in his hand.

"Why?"

"None of you stopped it!" he spit in response. "You all just laughed. Every day. All the time. But no one is laughing now!"

Rachel's eyes filled with tears. She inched closer to where Finn stood only to find the space empty. She barely had time to realize that he left her alone before the gun was now pointing in her direction. She closed her eyes, unable to understand how it came to this. She was supposed to be famous. She was supposed to marry Finn and be on Broadway. She wasn't supposed to die in high school and be just a name on a memorial plaque somewhere. A tear slipped down her cheek and she braced herself for the inevitable.

Another loud pop sounded and she felt the flash of heat as the gun went off. But there was no pain. Wasn't there supposed to be pain? She heard someone grunt and then a heavy weight was pinning her against the lockers. Her eyes flew open and she was surprised to see the back of a very familiar Mohawk.

"Noah?"

Her eyes widened as he started to fall. She could see the shooter walking away, most likely to find another victim. But her eyes were locked on Puck. He continued to fall, bringing Rachel with him to the floor. She held him tightly, her eyes sweeping over his body. His tanned complexion was paling rapidly. The white undershirt he wore was marred by the red stain spreading from the wound in his chest. She had seen enough cop television shows to know that there was no exit wound. That wasn't good.

She put a hand on his cheek, directing his unfocused, pain filled eyes to her. "Noah… What did… why… why would you do that?"

He took a shaky breath and smirked. "You're ok."

Sam suddenly appeared over them. His eyes wide. Rachel took in his shaken and disheveled appearance. His clothes were stained with blood and there were splotches of suspicious redness on his face. But Sam didn't seem to care as he stared at his friend in horror. "Shit, Puck. Not you."

"He got shot for me," Rachel said, confusion evident in her tone. "He saved me."

"Because that's how he rolls," Sam joked halfheartedly. He helped Rachel to lay Puck more comfortably down on the ground. He balled his jacket up and put it under his head. Rachel was already pressing her cardigan over the bleeding wound. "Stay with us, Puckerman. I kinda can't lose you too."

"Satan? Puck asked around a cough. Sam averted his gaze.

"She… in the gym," Sam replied in a monotone whisper. "He started in the gym. She's gone, Puck. I… got there too… she's gone."

"Not… your fault," Puck nudged him. "Did good."

Sam smiled sadly. "You did better."

By this point, Puck's breathing had become incredibly labored. Rachel kept one eye on him and the other scanning for any sign of an adult or someone that could help him. All around them was confusion and chaos. Rachel turned her full attention to Puck as the breaths started to slow. His eyes were clouded and dulled. He held up his hand which curled weakly. Sam didn't bother to hide the tears in his eyes as he bumped fists with his friend. Puck's head lolled towards Rachel. He coughed again and there was a deep, wet rattle in his chest that brought a fresh wave of tears to her eyes.

"Why, Noah?"

"You're ok," he repeated.

She didn't know if it was because he was too weak that he didn't understand the question or what but she knew that those were not the last words she ever thought she'd hear him say. This is not how things were supposed to go. She never imagined her life without Puck in some capacity. The Jewish population in Lima was unfortunately very small. Rachel had always grown up with Puck and had always imagined that he would be around somehow. She always saw him attending school in New York with her. She didn't know how but she just knew that he would be in her life. That is until some freshman that thought he was the only one that had ever been slushied brought a gun to school and ended those dreams.

"Noah? Wake up," she shook his shoulder gently when she realized that he failed to take another breath. He didn't even twitch away from her increasingly more frantic shaking. "Noah! You have to wake up now. You're scaring me. Please?"

"Rach," Sam choked out. "I don't think… I think… he's gone."

Her eyes drifted down to the non moving body between them. His chest was no longer rising and falling steadily. His hands were still. And his beautiful eyes were closed. Puck was gone. Noah was gone. And all the potential and life he had to live was gone. Over.

Rachel felt like a piece of her had died. She didn't think it was cliché or dramatic when she kneeled over his body and sobbed. She didn't let go until Sam carefully pulled away when the paramedics finally showed up. She didn't say a word as Sam held her long after she cried out every tear she had in her. Puck died so she could live. How was she supposed to live with that? How was this supposed to be okay?

* * *

><p><em>If you could see that I'm the one who understands you<em>

_Been here all along _

_So why can't you see?_

_You belong with me_

_You belong with me_

Rachel woke with an abrupt start. It was that Taylor Swift song again. Yesterday it had signaled the beginning of her reconciliation with Finn but today it just seemed like a slap in the face. It was too cheery. Puck was dead. How could anything be happy? She rolled over, fully prepared to lie there until the world started making sense again. And then her phone chimed. She reached over and retrieved the message from Kurt. He was apologizing for not being able to pick her up for school as they planned.

"Like yesterday," Rachel whispered. "But why would we have school after…what happened yesterday?"

Her eyes landed on her phone's calendar which was set to Monday. It was still Monday? But that was impossible. She jumped out of bed and ran to her fathers' room. Their room was empty and devoid of any sign that they had been there the previous night. Last night they had come back early from their vacation after hearing about the shooting. But there was no sign of them now. It was as empty as it was yesterday. Or was it today?

Rachel got dressed quickly. She ignored the day's chosen outfit as she didn't think she could ever wear that sweater again. She also ignored her usual morning routine as she flew to the bus stop. She sat down at the front of the bus and was once again forced to endure sitting next to a sweaty, fat man that liked looking at her legs. She was either experiencing a serious case of déjà vu or something very odd was happening to her.

She approached the school feeling completely unbalanced and off center. She didn't even care that she was later than usual. As she walked through the doors she found the hallways were packed. All around her, teenagers were happily regaling one another with tales of their weekends and bitching about it being Monday. Karofsky and Azimo bumped into her on their way down the hallway. They ignored her though as they were too busy laughing about something. She kept walking, not ready to believe none of it happened until she saw…

"Noah," his name fell from her lips like a whispered prayer. He was leaning against the locker adjacent to Sam animatedly recapping the latest episode of True Blood for the amused blonde. He paused in his narrative as he caught her gaze. A genuine smile pulled at the corners of his mouth and he nodded in greeting. The small nod and smile was all she needed to unleash the grief she had been holding back all morning. Puck's smile turned into a frown even as he walked over to her.

"Rach? What's wrong?"

He cupped her face in his hands and was looking over her worriedly. His eyes conveyed his confusion but also his concern. She shook her head tearfully, much too overcome to speak. It was all just a bad dream. He was here and he was fine. She felt his hands shift to her shoulders and she found herself pressed against him in a tight, welcoming hug. Her arms wound reflexively around his waist.

"Sam, you think you could go get her some tea or something from the cafeteria?"

"No problem."

Rachel buried her face on his chest, reveling in the steady heartbeat under her ear. He was alive. He was here with her. He was breathing.

"Did something happen, Rach? Did Azimo or any of them do something to do you?"

"No. Nothing… it just… it's so stupid but I had… a really bad dream," she sobbed. Puck's arms tightened around her and he pressed a kiss against her forehead.

"It's not stupid, Rachel. What did you dream about?"

Rachel's mouth opened and closed several times before she settled on the least insane answer. "You. I had a bad dream about you. And I'm sorry, but I just… just needed to see you."

"Don't apologize. It's okay. Wait a minute. On second thought, maybe you should apologize," Puck chuckled. "A bad dream about me? That's just impossible, Berry."

"What do you mean?" she lifted her head slightly to see him smiling down at her.

"You couldn't possibly have a bad dream about me," he grinned. "I'm a fucking stud, remember?" It was so absurd and just so Puck that Rachel couldn't help but laugh. His thumb brushed away a few stray tears and another smile spread across his face. "No more tears, Rach. I'm here. I'm always here."

"I know," Rachel replied, honestly. And she did know. There wasn't a time in the past two years when she needed Puck and he wasn't there. Even times when she didn't think she needed him, he was there. She could always depend on him.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Rachel didn't have a chance to react to the voice as there was a hand on her shoulder practically ripping her away from Puck's calming embrace. She glanced up, expecting to see the gunman from her dream but instead found the furious, blazing eyes of Finn Hudson.

"Dude, what the fuck is your problem? She's not a rag doll, you idiot. You can't just fling her around like that! Rachel, you okay?"

Rachel nodded and tried not to rub her arm. It did hurt a little but she felt it prudent to not mention that to Puck. He already seemed pissed that Finn had grabbed her in the first place. She did not need to give him further ammunition.

"What is my problem? What's your problem? You said you'd back off, man. But here you are putting moves on yet another girl I like."

"What are you talking about, Hudson? I'm not putting moves on anyone. I was comforting her! You know what that means, right? It's when you're there for someone when they need you."

"I know what that means," Finn replied, testily. Rachel had it on good authority that he in fact did not know what that meant. "I also know what it means to keep a promise."

"I made that stupid promise before you got back together with Quinn," Puck hissed. "Besides, she was crying and sad. What did you want me to do? Leave her alone? I'm not you."

Rachel flinched slightly. She knew that Puck was referring to the Christmas tree lot incident but it struck too close to home from her dream. She shook it off and instead chose to focus on what was apparently causing the problem between the pair. "What promise?" she finally asked aloud. "Noah, what promise did you make about me?"

He looked down at his shoes before meeting her gaze somewhat sheepishly. "I promised Finn that I wouldn't go after you anymore. Like sing anymore duets with you. Stuff like that."

Rachel's jaw dropped as she looked between the two boys. Finn really made him promise something like that? And Puck actually agreed? She didn't know which one of them she was the angriest with. How dare they decide something like this about her without her? Although, the optimist in her was reminding her that this was a sign. If Finn was making Puck agree to something like that, it must be because he still loved her. There was still hope.

Sam returned at this moment with the Styrofoam cup of tea in his hand. He looked between the trio and handed Rachel the tea awkwardly.

"Well, I can see you two have stuff to talk about," Puck said stiffly. "If you'll excuse me, I have a free period and I suddenly feel like punching things. A lot."

"Want to work out in the weight room?" Sam suggested, his eyes flitting between the three of them with understanding growing.

Puck gave one last glare in Finn's direction before smirking at Sam. "You just want to stare at Satan. You're so hung up on that girl. You should just man up and fucking tell her."

Sam snorted. "Like you can talk."

"Shut up!" Puck hissed as they walked away.

"Rachel, you have to be careful with Puck," Finn started as soon as they were out of earshot. "You know he's only after one thing."

Rachel narrowed her eyes. "Why would you make him promise not to sing with me, Finn? He's my friend."

"You don't know what he's really like, Rach. Puck doesn't do friends with girls. He's just using you to get at me."

"I've known Puck practically since birth. I think I know him fairly well."

"I do too," Finn countered. "And I know that Puck is selfish and only cares about getting one thing from girls. The only thing you could do with a guy like Puck is waste time."

Rachel was working her way towards an epic Berry rant when she heard the too familiar sounds of screaming and bangs. Her eyes went wide. The weight room was in the gym. Santana was also in the gym. The shooter started in the gym. And as of five minutes ago, Sam and Puck were now in the gym. She ignored Finn's squawking protests and raced towards the gym. She had to fight the tide of terrified students running away from where she was running to. As she pushed through the crowd, she ran into a familiar person.

Santana's normally carefully put together appearance was ruined. Her hair was in complete disarray and her clothes were stained. But it was the tears that were streaking her face and the empty, haunted look in her eyes that worried Rachel the most.

"Santana, what happened?"

"He shot them," she whispered, blankly. Rachel wasn't even sure that the Latina was registering her presence. "He killed…. He killed Sam… I never… I didn't tell… I… he's gone."

"Santana!"

She blinked and looked at Rachel shakily. "Rachel?"

"Yes, it's me. What happened? Where are Sam and Noah?"

Santana blinked again and tears continued to slide down her cheeks. "Someone burst into the gym and he had a gun. Sam and Puck were with me. They pushed me down. Sam… he fell and he didn't get back up. Puck made me run. He made me go. I think he's hurt, Rachel. I think… I think…"

Rachel didn't wait to hear what she thought. She was already running into the gym. She didn't bother to think about whether the shooter was still there. She didn't care. She just needed to see Puck. She needed to see him alive. Her eyes searched the room wildly looking for any sign of him. She heard Santana gasping beside her. She saw other students crying or wailing in pain. She saw and heard it all but she pushed it out of her mind. She only had eyes for Puck. And then she found him. He was slumped against the bleacher seats. His arms were wrapped tightly around his stomach but she could see the redness there.

"Noah!" she practically flew across the room, landing on her knees beside him. He looked up at her with glossy eyes. He gave her a slight smile and she saw a flash of blood stained teeth. "No! It's not supposed to end like this. It was just a stupid dream!"

"You're ok?" he gasped.

She put a hand on his cheek, frowning at the clamminess. Her free hand rested on his neck. "I'm fine, Noah. Please hold on for me."

He blinked, leaning into the touch. "'m tired, Rach. Wake me in a minute?"

Rachel felt her heart clench as the already weak beats beneath her fingers slowed. He was dying. Again. She was watching him die again. This wasn't a dream. This was a nightmare and it was one that she just couldn't seem to prevent. She sat beside him, holding onto him even as he slipped away. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. Why couldn't she save him? What was going on here?

* * *

><p><em>If you could see that I'm the one who understands you<em>

_Been here all along _

_So why can't you see?_

_You belong with me_

_You belong with me_

Rachel woke with a jolt. It happened again. She didn't bother to check the date on her phone. It wasn't a dream. Somehow she was repeating the same day. For once in her life, she didn't analyze it. She didn't over think it. She just went with it. As she got dressed, she played over the facts. The one thing that both days had in common was there was a shooting at the school and her friends died as a result. So obviously she was meant to stop the shooting. If she stopped the shooting, she'd save her friends and the day would stop looping. She wasn't going to let Sam, Santana or Puck die. None of those were acceptable losses to her. Not even Santana.

She laughed internally when she finally received Kurt's text apologizing for not giving her a ride. She was already seated at the back of the bus far away from potential sweaty, fat perverts. During the short bus ride, she continued to muse over the facts as she knew them. The shooting started because Karofsky and Azimo had slushied the wrong kid for the hundredth time. Short of getting slushied herself and starting yet another fight between the glee kids and the football team, Rachel couldn't think of any way to stop that from happening. But she did think of a way to intercept the problem before it became a problem.

"Ms. Pillsbury?" Rachel asked, hesitantly knocking on the door to their guidance counselor's office. "Do you have a moment?"

The woman's eyes widened somewhat and she motioned for Rachel to have a seat. "How can I help you, Rachel? Is everything alright?"

Rachel chewed on her lip, feigning hesitancy. "I didn't know where else to go. I just overheard a student saying that he brought a gun to school." Rachel couldn't help the small sense of satisfaction she felt when she saw Emma's eyes widen even further and her hand twitched slightly towards the disinfectant.

Despite her initial reaction to Rachel's announcement, Emma carried her part of the plan well. She went immediately to Principal Figgins' office and informed him of Rachel's conversation. Together the two confronted the now ice covered young man on his way to his locker to retrieve said gun. He was immediately apprehended and the threat was over. Rachel watched it all unfold with a sense of accomplishment. She had single-handily foiled what could have been the greatest tragedy in McKinley High history.

"You look smug," Mercedes pointed out during lunch later that afternoon. Rachel blinked in perfect innocence before smiling again. "Seriously, what's the deal? Something happen?"

"Besides the serious scariness this morning," Blaine added. "Did you hear about the kid with the gun in his locker? I heard Ms. P actually fainted when she saw the gun."

"I heard Mr. Schue tried to catch her but ended up fainting himself," Kurt chimed in.

"The official story is that Mr. Schue and Ms. P both fainted and Figgins pissed himself. All three of them are currently hiding out in Coach Bieste's office terrified that we're all strapped," Puck announced as he, Sam and Lauren joined the four friends. "Doesn't everyone just feel so safe with such strong authority figures in place?"

"Think Schue will get over it in time for glee this week?" Kurt mused. "Personally, I'm hoping he doesn't. I for one can live without Finn and Quinn's reassuring the world that they're totally in love through the usage of 80s power ballads." There were several murmurs of agreement.

"Really, dude? PB&J?" Blaine pointed at Puck's tray once Puck took his customary seat beside the former Warbler.

"You're so freaking funny. It's not my fault, Figgins is a cheap bastard and is making us eat PB&J since he won that all jelly."

"It's okay, Puck. You're in a safe place. You can admit that sometimes you just want to feed your inner child. Want recess and a nap too?"

Puck's lips twitched in a smile but he covered it by turning to Sam. "Remind me again why we stole him from the Warblers?"

"I think it was because Kurt kept crying about missing his boyfriend," Sam replied, grinning at the usual bantering between the pair. "Also we wanted to eliminate the competition and you were worried that Rachel would take that literally."

"Oh yeah," Puck said, thoughtfully. "There was all of that. I kept imagining her with a little pink sniper rifle and sparkly camouflage pants."

"Stylish assassin," Blaine muttered. "I could see that."

Rachel threw a carrot stick at the boys and rolled her eyes. As Blaine, Sam and Puck continued to bicker and banter with one another, she noticed Lauren switching her sandwich with the one on Puck's plate. She didn't bother to say anything though partially because it was peanut butter and jelly. What could possibly be so different about the sandwiches? And mostly because seriously, Puck's former girlfriend scared the crap out of her. She was so glad that was over.

"Wait, what was the assignment for glee this week?" Puck asked as he took a bite out of his sandwich. He started to take another bite when he made a face. "This tastes different."

"Different like how?" Sam asked.

He would never get a verbal response. Instead, Puck's eyes went wide and his hands went to his throat. Several loud, choking and wheezing sounds emitted as he suddenly struggled to breathe. Rachel was on her feet and by his side almost instantly. Because she was standing close to him, she could read the fear in his eyes as he continued his struggle to breathe. Kurt was already out the door to find the school nurse.

"What's wrong with him?" Mercedes was practically yelling.

"He's having an allergic reaction," Rachel replied, keeping her voice calm. She tugged him forward so he was resting against her body as she rubbed circles on his back trying to help him in any way that she could. But she knew that was pointless. He only had reactions this bad to two things: strawberries and shellfish. Both could be fatal if not treated. "Noah, do you have an epi-pen on you?"

He shook his head and Rachel didn't bother to hide the curse that escaped her lips. Why the hell wouldn't he have his epi-pen when he knew that things like this could happen? Of course, he was usually very careful to avoid those foods. She leaned forward to pick up his sandwich and frowned at the oozing red substance.

"Strawberry jelly?"

Sam glanced down at the sandwich and then back to his best friend. "No, that's not right. Puck asked the lunch lady if she had anything other than strawberry. And she wasn't going to give him that until she remembered he was allergic. So she made him a grape one. There's no way he got strawberry."

"Then how…." Rachel trailed off and glared daggers in the now guilty looking Lauren's direction. "You switched sandwiches."

"I hate strawberry jelly," Lauren protested weakly.

"Yeah, well he's allergic! How could you not know that? You dated for six months! Show of hands, who doesn't know that Puck is allergic to strawberries?"

Sadly, Mercedes was the only one at the table that raised her hand. She glanced around to see that she was the only one and quickly lowered her arm. Then all eyes were back on Puck, who was wheezing quieter now. Rachel had been there for the first one of these attacks. She knew that this wasn't a good sign. It was a sign that things were getting worse.

"Hey, Noah," she patted him on the cheek. His eyes opened blearily. "Stay awake, ok? Kurt is going to get someone to help you. You're going to be fine."

He managed to nod before taking another gasping, wheezing breath. By now the other students in the cafeteria were becoming aware of their medical crisis. Santana and Brittany walked over to their table and were effectively blocking him from their view. Rachel continued to hold onto him, humming whatever popped into her head at the moment to keep him calm. She was sure they were going to get through this. She stopped a damn school shooting. There was no way she was going to lose him to something as stupid as a sandwich. But when Kurt returned with Mr. Schuster and no school nurse, Rachel felt her heart stop.

"The nurse wasn't there," Kurt reported, sadly. "We called for an ambulance. But…."

Rachel closed her eyes as if that would block out the words and the knowledge that came with them. She already knew what he was going to say. She felt it even as she held onto her friend. He wasn't going to make it. He wasn't going to get through this time. She swallowed and rested her head on top of his, humming 'Sweet Caroline' and ignoring the weak gasps from the boy in her arms.

* * *

><p><em>If you could see that I'm the one who understands you<em>

_Been here all along _

_So why can't you see?_

_You belong with me_

_You belong with me_

Rachel was on a mission this morning. After waking up for the fourth time to Taylor Swift and another review of the facts, she realized that she was wrong. She had assumed that the school shooting was the common link but it wasn't. It was Puck. For all three days that she repeated so far, Puck's death was the one thing that linked them all together. It had nothing to do with the school shooting. But that didn't mean the shooting was any less of an issue. With a sigh, she got started on her brand new morning routine, pausing only to make another more Puck friendly lunch before racing out the door to the bus.

After informing Ms. Pillsbury, again, about the shooter and watching her expected twitchy reaction, Rachel set out to find Puck. He was standing next to Sam once again recapping True Blood for his friend. She promised herself that once this day was over, she was definitely going to sit down and watch it with Puck and Sam. It seemed really enjoyable. Or maybe it was just Puck's colorful retelling of it. Either way, if it was one thing she learned from this experience, it was that she needed to spend more time with Puck.

"Rachel, just the girl I was thinking about!" Puck yelled once she caught his attention. "Will you tell Sammy over here that my pool cleaning business is no longer a front for screwing cougars and neither is my snow shoveling thing."

Rachel laughed and shook her head. "He's telling the truth," Rachel said with a smile. "He's been cougar free for almost a whole year."

"Do you think they give those little badges or something when I hit my second year?" Puck asked with a twinkle in his eyes. Rachel found herself staring for a little longer than necessary. He cleared his throat. "You alright there, Rach?"

"Oh, uh, yes! I'm great. By the way, Noah I took the liberty of making your lunch."

Puck raised an eyebrow but accepted the offered bag. "To what do I owe the honor?"

"Don't you remember the lunch scheduled for today? Its peanut butter and jelly. Principal Figgins only uses the strawberry jelly since he won that raffle at the jam factory."

Puck's jaw dropped open briefly. "Damn, I totally forgot. Good looking out, Rachel. Thanks."

"No problem," she replied honestly. She then pulled the second part of her 'Save Puck' mission and pressed it in his hand. "I know you're careful. But just trust me, okay?"

Puck's hand closed over the epi-pen she had placed there. Their fingertips brushing against one another in the process. "Always, Berry."

She smiled at his ready trust in her. He gave her a kiss on the cheek in thanks before dragging a strangely snickering Sam off towards their first period class. The two boys were hitting one another back and forth as they walked down the hall, but Rachel noticed that Puck was careful to keep Sam's hands away from the lunch bag she had given him. One thing she could say about Puck he was always grateful for the things she gave him.

Satisfied that he was safe for the time being, Rachel spent the rest of her morning trying to piece together anything that could have happened before the day started looping. It seemed like a lifetime ago when really it was only the day before. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She had gone to the fair with Blaine, Mercedes and Kurt. Puck and Sam had found some incredibly lame excuse to get out of going which had prompted Rachel to harass him via text messages for the majority of their time in the fair. Except for…

"The gypsy!"

"Talking to yourself?" a voice asked, sarcastically. She rolled her eyes towards Blaine.

"Where's your better half?"

"Still getting changed from gym," Blaine shrugged. "I swear he's worse than a girl with the amount of time it takes him to get dressed." Rachel giggled as they continued to walk toward the cafeteria. Blaine looped his arm through hers. "So why did you feel the need to exclaim about the gypsy? Don't tell me you're having second thoughts about the awesomeness of Elena now."

"Oh, I'm having second thoughts alright," Rachel muttered. "You wouldn't happen to have her number, would you?"

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, actually I took her card on the way out. Seriously, Rachel, what's going on? Yesterday, you didn't believe in her and now you want her number. What's up?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. Just I've been giving a lot of thought to her reading and I wanted to apologize. That's all."

Blaine gave her a skeptical look but decided that teasing Puck's lunch (again) was a much better alternative than continuing to press Rachel. Lunch went off without a single issue and soon Rachel found herself seated on the bleachers during gym class calling Elena the gypsy. She idly tracked Puck's progress in gym while waiting for the woman on the other line to answer the phone.

"House of mysteries, Elena speaking. How can I help you today?"

"You can break this stupid curse!" Rachel snapped before she could stop herself. She clapped a hand over her mouth and sighed. "I mean, you can help me by ending this curse."

"Ah, the skeptical star," Elena's voice sounded even huskier over the phone. The woman chuckled. "And what can Elena do for you today?"

"Oh, save it," Rachel muttered. She frowned as she lost track of Puck briefly but it faded as she spotted him with Finn on the top of the bleachers on the opposite side of the gym. "Tell me how to end this."

"End what, little star?"

"The day keeps repeating itself! I've been through the same exact day four times now. And it always ends the same."

There was a pause on the other end and Rachel thought the woman might have hung up. "You're not trying to trick me? You are experiencing the same day?"

"Yes! Why would I try to trick you? Just help me fix this. I can't do this anymore."

"I cannot fix this," Elena said, apologetically. "As I told you yesterday, you are blind. I cannot help you to see what is in front of you. You must see what you are not seeing and only then will time loop end. You must learn from your mistake."

Rachel growled as the woman hung up on her after that. She was beyond frustrated and annoyed. What the hell was that supposed to mean? She had to see what she wasn't seeing? She had to learn from her mistake? But what mistake? And if the curse wasn't over, then that meant that…

"Just back the fuck off, Hudson! It was just lunch!" Puck yelled, stomping away from his former best friend. Finn grabbed onto his arm and pulled him back. The momentum and the unexpected force threw Puck off his balance. Rachel, and many of the other gleeks, could only watch in horror as Puck lurched over the side of the bleachers, landing in an awkward and impossible angle on the gym floor.

Rachel ran a hand through her hair and tried not to look at the body. This was getting past the point of traumatic how many times could she watch him die? The answer was not many more. She had to figure out this day loop and end it. Soon.

* * *

><p><em>If you could see that I'm the one who understands you<em>

_Been here all along _

_So why can't you see?_

_You belong with me_

_You belong with me_

Rachel groaned as her alarm went off playing the same damn song. She thought about getting up and found that she physically couldn't get out of bed. What was the point? For some reason she was being forced to repeat the day until she realized her mistake. And Puck was the one that was paying for it. That wasn't fair. She hurt when he hurt. So it stood to reason that when he died, a piece of her died as well. She just couldn't watch him die again. So she decided that she was going to skip the day and go back to the madness with a fresh mind tomorrow.

That resolve lasted for about five minutes and then she was out of bed with a notebook on her lap and a pen in hand going through every decision she'd made in the last five years that could be the mysterious mistake. She wrote down everything from the big (going out with Jesse even though he was so obviously a spy, letting Shelby into my life) to the little (wearing a red reindeer sweater and a green plaid skirt). None of them seemed to be a life altering mistake that could lead to… well this!

She was working for a little over an hour when she received the first text message. She glanced at the screen and saw it was from Mercedes. A few minutes later she received another one from Kurt and then Blaine. It continued this way for another two hours before they finally gave up sending texts and someone called. But it wasn't just someone. It was…

"Noah?"

"Rachel? Are you…? Where are you?"

"I'm at home," she replied, pushing her lists to the side. She heard the strain in his voice. It didn't sound like he was in physical pain but he was upset. "Noah, what's wrong?"

He swallowed and let out a small, poorly concealed sob. "There was… someone shooting. He got… shit. I'm so sorry, Rachel."

"Noah, what are you sorry about? Are you hurt?"

"No. But I couldn't stop him. He got… Finn. I didn't help him… I'm sorry."

Rachel felt like someone punched her in the stomach. He was seriously upset because he thought she'd be upset that he didn't save Finn? He was safe. That was enough for her. Wait? That was enough?

"Noah, just listen to me. Are you alright?"

"Yes," he replied, quietly. But she could hear that he was very far from alright.

"Don't lie to me. What's wrong?"

He was silent for a few minutes. "I couldn't find you. I thought… I thought something happened… I don't know if I can…."

Rachel blinked away tears at his rambling explanation. He was worried about her. But hadn't he shown that on the very first day? He protected her.

"I'm ok, Noah. I promise. I'm ok." She exhaled. "Is Sam with you?"

"Yeah. He's right here."

"Good, give him the phone, okay?"

She heard him sniffle a little before the phone was handed over to Sam. "Hey, Rach," he greeted and she felt herself relax for the first time since the phone rang. Sam was there with Puck and he wasn't alone. If she couldn't be there for him at the moment, she was glad that Sam could be. "I'm really glad you're okay. Good thing you decided to play hooky today, huh?"

Rachel laughed dryly. "Yeah, good thing. Is everyone alright, Sam? I mean besides… Finn?"

Sam sighed heavily. "For the most part. Brittany got hit in the leg but I think she's fine. She was already talking about getting her cat to sign her cast. Artie and Santana went to the hospital with her. Everyone else was on the other side of the school so they're all safe. It was just Finn."

"Sam, is Noah alright? I mean really?"

"Uh," Sam hesitated and then sighed. "No, not really. He's kind of a wreck right now. After the first shots, he made sure that me and San were safe and then ran out looking for you. He's been looking this whole time. And I think he's just now coming down from that major adrenaline high."

Rachel ran a hand through her hair. She hadn't thought about that. She didn't think about how he'd react if she wasn't there. And she kicked herself for it. Because she knew that if the situation was reversed, she wouldn't have rested until she saw him alive and in front of her.

"Bring him here. I'll be waiting."

Sam agreed and promised they'd be there in twenty minutes. If it were Puck driving, it would probably be less than that but she was happy that Sam was driving. She had only seen Puck this upset once before and that fun filled experience ended with them waiting in the ER after he punched a wall and broke his hand. She didn't want to imagine what he would do behind the wheel of a car. No, Sam driving was a very good thing.

An hour later, she was rethinking that theory. Since speaking with the boys, Rachel had this anxious feeling in her stomach that she knew wouldn't be released until she saw Puck. Until she was holding him and helping to put him back together. She needed Puck and he wasn't there. She sat back on her living room sofa and turned the television on. Hopefully there would be something there to distract her from the growing knot of fear in her stomach.

'Breaking News Alert. Just hours after the tragic shooting at William McKinley High that has left three dead and twenty injured, a car carrying two of the survivors was pushed off the road by a drunk driver. The police are not revealing the names of the two students but sources report that they were both on the football team.'

Rachel's eyes watered as the background shifted to the scene. She saw Puck's truck upside down at the bottom of a ravine. The remote fell from her limp fingers.

* * *

><p><em>If you could see that I'm the one who understands you<em>

_Been here all along _

_So why can't you see?_

_You belong with me_

_You belong with me_

Rachel really wondered when this was all going to end. She wondered how many more mornings was she going to wake up to the same song, make Puck a lunch, take the bus with the weirdest individuals on the planet, stop the school shooting and play the waiting game to see how long and in what way Puck's life would end that day. She at least made sure that Finn was suitably distracted in gym class that afternoon by setting Quinn on him. It was almost painfully easy. All she had to do was hint that she overheard Finn saying that he didn't see what the big deal was about prom this year. Finn thought that Quinn's prom crazy was bad when they were juniors. Her frenzy for prom was worse now that they were seniors and Rachel was more than willing to use that to her advantage.

All she could do now was wait for it to be over one way or another. She sat Indian style on the bleachers watching as Puck, Sam and Mike played an increasingly more insane and random game that pretty much involved a basketball but probably could not be confused with the actual sport. But it didn't really matter to her because they were clearly having fun and pulling random gleeks into the mix. That was something she had always admired about those three. They were never embarrassed or ashamed of the glee club. They were just as happy hanging out with them as they were being popular. Especially Puck. He had no problems being seeing with her. In fact he was almost proud when they were together.

"Rachel?"

She looked up to see the object of her daily concern standing in front of her. He had his hands shoved in the pockets of his shorts and was looking down at her curiously. A thin sheen of sweat glistened on his skin and Rachel felt her mouth open slightly. Was he always this gorgeous? She shook her head when she realized that he was still waiting for a response.

"Huh?"

Puck laughed before sitting next to her. "That was eloquent."

"Weren't you the one that told me I sound like a walking dictionary?"

He shrugged. "I say a lot of things. But I like the way you talk." Rachel gave him a small smile before leaning into his shoulder. "So why are you sitting up here alone? Is everything ok? You've been kind of off today."

Rachel was ready to lie and tell him that everything was fine when she remembered who she was talking to. This was Puck. The only one she ever felt really comfortable speaking to about what she was really thinking and feeling.

"What do you think is the biggest mistake you've ever made?"

Puck scoffed. "My life is a mistake, Rach. I think I go from one big fuck up to the next."

"Seriously, Noah. What is your one big regret?"

He hummed under his breath thoughtfully before sighing. "Why is it that you're the only ones I actually have these kinds of conversations with?"

"Because we're the only ones that get each other."

He smirked. "I guess my biggest mistake was ever thinking I was in love with Quinn Fabray. Nothing good came of that stupid mistake." He paused. "Well, not true Beth came of that but everything else that I lost out on… yeah."

"I thought you and Finn were fixing your friendship."

"We are, I guess. Whatever. I didn't mean me and Hudson." He chewed on his lip and looked out at the court where Sam and the others were still playing. Rachel smiled as the ball flew out of Sam's hands and knocked straight into the water fountain. His eyes widened as water started to spray out of the broken faucet. The spray somehow managed to reach where Quinn was still publically berating Finn's lack of intelligence and social savvy. The golden couple were soaking wet within seconds which did little to improve Quinn's mood. Puck laughed dryly at the rapidly declining scene and shook his head.

"Honestly, Rach, my biggest regret that lying that day on the bleachers."

"What?"

"You were right. I wasn't going to break up with you, even though you didn't let me touch your boobs," he smiled sadly. "I didn't want to break up with you. And I shouldn't have told you we weren't friends."

Rachel looked at him with wide eyes. "You didn't…." she trailed off as the first time she held him as he died came back to her. He was ok with dying for her because she was ok. It was why he kept repeating it. It was ok because as long as she was ok, he was too. And with a start, she realized it was the same for her. She never liked seeing him sad. She hurt when he was hurting. He was a part of her life.

"That's it," she whispered.

"What's it?"

He turned away from their friends' antics to meet her gaze. She smiled as she stared into the hazel orbs. She really was blind. How did she not see it? How did she not see him? Puck had been there all along and she turned him away time after time to chase after Finn. Finn, who was selfish and so concerned with popularity. He deserved someone like Quinn, just like she deserved someone like Puck.

"I let us go."

"Yeah, I know, Rach and that's probably the smartest thing you've ever done."

"But you just said…"

"I know what I said but I'm not that freakin' selfish," he snapped. "You make me a better person. When I'm with you people don't hate me as much. My ma actually looked at me like she was proud of me when we were dating. You make people change how they see me. But me? I don't do anything for you, Rach. You're going places in life. You're going to make Broadway your bitch. Me? If I don't end up in jail before I'm twenty one, then I'm one lucky bastard."

"Please tell me you don't actually believe that, Noah!"

"I believe it and I know it," he whispered in response. "I shouldn't have said anything. Trust me, Quinn and Finn over there? They're not going to last much longer and eventually he's going to want you back. And you want him. You've always wanted him. You should get what you want. You deserve that."

Rachel's jaw dropped open as he started to walk away. For a moment she flashed back to that day on the bleachers two years ago when she watched him walk away the first time. She had almost called him back then. It was on the tip of her tongue but she let him go. There was no way she was going to make that mistake again. Not when she finally realized what Elena, Kurt, Mercedes and Blaine had been trying to tell her. It was never Finn. It was always Puck.

She pushed herself to her feet and chased after him. She found that he had stopped short in front of the broken scoreboard. His body radiated tension as he stood rigid with his back to her. She ignored the puddle of water underneath their feet as she reached for his hand. In the split second before her hand reached his, Rachel found that he hadn't just stopped. His arms were locked tight to his sides and she could feel his muscles seizing once she was finally touching him. That is before she felt the same jolt course through her own body.

Rachel always heard that in the moments before you die, you saw your life flash before your eyes. Well in the moment before she died, Rachel could only curse the moron that thought that repairing the scoreboard and leaving live wires around a gym full of teenagers was a good idea. Damn Figgins and cutting corners. She only hoped this death thing was temporary for her too because she was so going to rip Figgins a new one.

* * *

><p><em>If you could see that I'm the one who understands you<em>

_Been here all along _

_So why can't you see?_

_You belong with me_

_You belong with me_

Rachel woke with a gasp and a residual shudder. That was decidedly not fun. But she was resolved to end this once and for all. And she was pretty sure she knew how. All she had to do was tie up the other loose ends.

When she arrived at school that morning, she deviated from her normal routine of alerting Ms. Pillsbury and instead went straight for the shooter. For the first time since the beginning of this horrible mess, Rachel took a good look at the kid. In the beginning, she hated him. After all he was the one responsible for Puck's death… twice. But she was starting to see that he was as much of a victim in this as everyone else. Maybe she could change things for him too. With that in mind, she approached him wearing what she hoped was a comforting smile.

"Hi, Alex right?" he nodded warily. "Well, Alex, my name is Rachel Berry. I just wanted to tell you that…. I understand."

"Understand what?" Alex asked quietly. His eyes darted around the hallways as if he expected to see someone jump out and mock him.

"I understand what it's like to be picked on. To have everyone laugh at you when you get a slushy thrown at you. And you're not as lucky as I was. At least he made sure it was my favorite flavor every morning." She shook his head to get herself back on track. "The point is that I understand what it's like and how it feels. You're not alone. You're not the only one that's gone through it. But you will be the only one that goes through with your plan."

His eyes widened. "What… how did you?"

"I'm a little bit psychic," Rachel lied with a small smirk. "Look Alex. You can go through with this but just know that it won't take away the humiliation or the feelings of shame. Nothing ever will. But when you graduate and you're some big shot out there, you can look back on these moments and know that you got the last laugh."

"Is that… what you're going to do?"

"Yes. I'm getting out of this town and I'm going to be someone. And you can too. Don't let them dictate the person you're going to be. When they throw their slushies and insults, hold your head up and know that you're better than them."

The corner of his mouth curled slightly. "Thank you, Rachel."

"No, thank you, Alex," she replied honestly. She turned around and walked away hoping that their talk would be enough to stop him. She had a feeling that it would. She was certain when the inevitable slushy facial happened less than five minutes later and Alex didn't go off. He shuddered from the cold ice before laughing as well. Several of the students who laughed before merely looked confused at this turn in events. Azimo and Karofsky both sighed and stalked away muttering about geeks not knowing their place anymore. Rachel winked at Alex as he passed her on the way to the bathroom.

Now with that done, she had one last thread to tie up before she could confront Puck. And that was the conversation that was months overdue really. She found Finn at his locker. She was surprised when she didn't see Puck and Sam opposite from him but she would get to that in a moment.

"Hey, Rachel," Finn greeted with the half smile that used to melt her heart. But now she could really see him and she wondered how she fell for that time and time again.

"Do you want to be with me?"

"Huh?"

"It's a simple question. Do you want to be with me or it is just that you don't want me to be anyone else? It seems like you want me to be hanging on the sidelines waiting for you to come around. Anytime I show interest in someone else, all of a sudden you're there."

"You're interested in someone else?" Rachel shook her head at the confirmation of her question. He saw her look and lunged forward to take her hand in his. "Rachel, I know that things have been hard between us lately. But I just need a little more time to figure this out."

"Figure what out, Finn? You're with Quinn. You dumped me because I told you the truth about kissing Puck and then you forgive Quinn for cheating on you and help her cheat on Sam. You're selfish and a hypocrite. And I'm done wasting time on you."

"Rachel…"

"No, Finn. It's over. I deserve a definitely yes and not a possibly maybe. You can't give me that. And I don't want that from you. I want more than just sitting around and waiting for you to see me. I deserve more than that and I'm going to get more than that. It's been nice but I'm not going to be waiting for you when you realize that Quinn is not the one for you." she pressed a kiss against his cheek. "I'm not going to be waiting for you at all."

As she walked away from him, ignoring his protests and cries in the background, she felt lighter than she had in years. She was finally free of Finn and the dead weight that was that relationship. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how stupid she had been. She was really waiting for him to come back when it was obvious that he was jerking her around. He wasn't her Prince Charming. She had looked over her Prince Charming for too many years in favor of that jerk and she wasn't going to any longer. She turned the corner on her search for Puck and ran straight into Sam.

"Rachel! Finally!'

"Yes, I'm here," her brow furrowed as she took in his frazzled appearance. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

"Not you too! First, Puck is all freaked out and looking for you. And now you're acting like something is going on. Is something going on? Should I be freaking out too? If you two knew something, you'd tell me, right?"

"Sam!" she yelled, interrupting his rambling. "What's wrong with Noah?"

"He's been going crazy looking for you all morning. I told him that he was scaring people with his full on crazy and left him in the choir room."

Rachel didn't bother to listen if there was anything following that. She was already racing towards the choir room. She didn't know why Puck was off the regular schedule and she really didn't care. He was upset. He was looking for her and she was resolved that there would be no more suffering from Puck if she could avoid it. She reached the choir room and found him sitting on a seat on the bottom row of the risers.

"Noah," she called as she walked through the door. He moved so quickly she barely saw him. Almost as soon as she was through the door she was wrapped in his embrace. He held her tightly but she didn't care because she was holding onto him just as tightly. They stayed wrapped up in one another for what seemed like hours. Then he finally pulled away.

"I'm sorry about that," he muttered. "I just… I needed to see you."

She smiled softly at the words she had said to him on the second day. "Never apologize for that, Noah. But what happened? Sam said that you were looking for me."

"I don't know… I just had the weirdest dream," he shook his head. "I guess I should lay off the dip before bed, huh?"

"What kind of dream?"

He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. One hand still rested on the small of her back. "This is going to sound bat-shit crazy but I dreamt that we were talking and I walked away and got electrocuted. And you know how they say that your life flashes before your eyes. Well, it's weird because all I saw was me dying like a lot before that. And then you followed me and then I think you died too."

"You dreamt that?"

"I feel like I'm trippin' over here, Rach. It felt like… I don't know… my dream felt really weird and real and I…" he trailed off, running a hand through his hair. "I guess I sound crazy, huh? I just had to make sure you were okay."

Rachel gave him a soft smile and decided to take a chance. "You don't sound crazy. I totally understand. I felt the same way the first time I saw you die."

"The first time?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He only looked at her curiously but he didn't outright dismiss her as crazy. Instead he let her lead him to one of the seats as she explained the looping days. They shifted so that her head was resting on his shoulder as she told him the ways he died. His arm was wrapped around her in response, offering solid proof that he was there. Once she finished, she looked at him warily waiting for him to reject her.

"So yesterday or today… whatever. When we were talking, that's what you meant? You figured out what the mistake was?"

"Yes. My mistake was being blind. Not seeing what was in front of me the entire time."

He cocked his head to the side. "What was that?"

"You, Noah. I didn't see you." He started to pull away from but she held onto his hand firmly. "Don't run away. Just listen. We're meant to do this thing together. We're better people when we're together. We're a couple of hot Jews, remember?"

A smile formed on his lips briefly. "What about Finn? What happens when he decides he wants you back?"

"Then he finally gets to know what it's like to want someone who doesn't want him. Finn isn't half the man you are, Noah. The first time you got shot, I asked you why you saved me and all you said was…"

"You're ok," Puck finished, quietly. "I said it was because you were ok."

"You ran in front of a bullet for me," Rachel shook her head. "Finn couldn't even stand by my side. It's you, Noah. It's always been you. I've just been too stupid to see that."

His eyes were watching her carefully as if he just couldn't let himself believe the words she was saying. She knew her own actions towards him in recent months had contributed to the almost crippling insecurities he had about relationships. She released his hand and traced the planes of his face with her fingers.

"You're sure about this, Rach?"

"Yes," she replied, honestly. "You and me against the world. I'm going to make Broadway my bitch and you're going to be right there with me. I need you."

"I'm an emotional retard."

"I'm extremely emotionally verbose."

"I'm not very good at expressing myself with words and shit."

"I talk too damn much."

He gave her an amused look. "You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?"

"No," she replied with a wide smile. "You're mine, Noah Puckerman. I'm not letting you walk away from me again. We're in this together and for keeps this time."

"Rach, I love you. I think I always have. If you want me by your side, then I'm there. I still think that you can do a lot better than me, but I'm willing to try to be the man you need."

"Then just be you," she mumbled, pressing a soft kiss against his the corner of his mouth. "You're already all the man I need and want."

Puck closed his eyes thoughtfully. A smirk played across his lips as he finally opened his eyes to look at her. "I don't know, babe. I'm not sure you're up to the task of loving an admittedly high maintenance person such as myself."

Rachel smiled at the familiar words. "So you saying you want me to sing you a song in front of the rest of the club?"

"That's how we do things, right? I sung for you. So…."

He never finished the sentence as Rachel closed the small distance between them. Her lips met his in an almost chaste kiss. When she pulled away, she saw his eyes had fluttered shut. She smirked. "So you wanna make out?"

"Sure," he replied with a smile before leaning in to do just that.

* * *

><p><strong>Day Two<strong>

_Wake you up_

_In the middle of the night to say_

_I will never walk away again_

_I'm never gonna leave this bed_

Rachel rolled over onto her stomach as her alarm went off. A smile stretched across her lips lazily as she realized the song was different. Now that she understood where she was going wrong all this time, she understood what the song was trying to tell her. She belonged with Puck. He was the one that understood her. But this song was just as good. It was fitting to her mood at the moment too. She could definitely get behind that idea.

"Shouldn't we be getting ready for school?"

Rachel opened her eyes to see Puck lying on his side facing her. His hand was resting on her back. She scooted closer to him, basking in the warmth he gave. She lay on his bare chest. His fingers skimmed lightly down her sides. The barely there touches leaving scorch marks of heat in their wake that she could feel even through her night shirt.

"I think we earned a day off," she whispered against his chest. "I don't want to move. I want to just stay like this all day."

He chuckled. "Babe, we have the rest of our lives for mornings like this. But I'm pretty sure your father will murder me horribly if they come back and find us like this. Your dad might break out the wedding planning books again. Not sure which is worse actually," he paused, thoughtfully before smirking. "Besides, I believe someone owes me a song."

Rachel giggled and hugged him tighter. "Fine, but let the record show that I was the one willing to stay in bed all day and you're the responsible, boring, fun crushing one." She paused, pulling away from him. "Are we in some kind of alternate universe? You want to go to school and I want to lie in bed all day? We're in a weird alternate world, aren't we?"

Puck growled and pounced on her, pinning her to the bed underneath him. "No more Fringe marathons with Sam for you."

She placed her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a lingering kiss. "I'd much rather have True Blood marathons with you anyway."

"I knew I loved you for a reason," he grinned. He bumped his nose against hers. "And don't think you're tricking me into staying here all day, Rach. I know how your devious mind works. We're going to school."

"But do we have to move now?" she pouted. He flicked her lip playfully.

"Yes, we do. I have to stop by my house. If I show up to school wearing the same clothes as yesterday people might start getting the wrong idea about me."

"And we wouldn't want that, would we?"

He gave her a look even as he rolled off her and out of the bed. Rachel flounced back against her sheets and watched as Puck started pulling his shirt and pants on. She admired the view with a smile.

"Stop watching me, perv, and get ready!"

Rachel laughed but did as he said. She showered and dressed quickly. She found him lying patiently on her now neatly made bed. She sat down beside him and placed her hand in his. He closed his hand over hers.

"Why do you think I remember everything?"

Rachel shrugged. "I guess it's because I was holding onto you when we both died. I'm not sure. Maybe it's because I ended the curse right before we both died."

"Do you think it's over now? No more looping?"

"Well you didn't die yesterday. And it's Tuesday now. So I'm going to assume that means you're safe." She looked down at their hands. "I really hope it's all over."

He reached up with his free hand to brush her loose hair back. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, babe."

"I am and I'm not. I never want to see you die, hurt or anything like that again. But if it wasn't for that curse I don't think I would've seen what was in front of me all this time. I'm so sorry for that, Noah. It shouldn't have taken something this extreme for me to see that. I love you."

"Hey, it's ok. We can't all be smart and beautiful," he smirked. She swatted his chest playfully. "I love you too, Rach."

"You do have a point though. We don't know if the curse is over or not. Guess we better stay together again today to make sure."

Puck smiled and she was amazed at how his whole face was transformed by that smile. "I think can live with that."

* * *

><p>*The end. My first one-shot done!<p> 


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